highway signage

Published on: February 22, 2024

Feds Phase Out Witty Highway Safety Signs

The federal government is not amused by the witty highway safety messages that are posted on several highways across the country, including in Georgia, to prevent auto accidents. The federal government has banned these humorous electronic safety messages across the country.

The Federal Highway Administration, which is in charge of regulating the nation’s massive network of highways, recently released a 1000 – page manual which also includes rules for the design of safety signs. The manual makes it clear that it considers these messages to be distracting. Rather than preventing auto accidents, the FHA believes the messages make car accidents more likely.

Over the past few years, several states including Georgia, have attempted to attract motorist attention to highway safety issues by posting humorous safety messages that use wordplay, a pun-friendly style or references to pop culture to grab eyeballs. Georgia transportation safety experts experimented with these witty signs, and in 2020, held a contest to find the most humorous sign ideas. Winning entries included gems like You Look Great, But the Selfie Can Wait, Better Late Than Never, and our favorite If You Missed the Exit, It’s OK, We Made More Up Ahead, and began flashing on several highways after these were picked out of hundreds of entries. Over the next few months, however, many of these messages may simply be phased out as a result of the new federal rules.

Published on: May 11, 2022

These Traffic Safety Signs Actually Increase Accident Risks

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

There is no shortage of road signs on Georgia’s roads warning drivers of construction, traffic patterns and accidents. Traffic safety signs warning Atlanta drivers to avoid drunk driving or stay within speed limits can help remind motorists about the need for such safe driving practices. However, not all traffic safety signs in Georgia have a positive effect on reducing motorist accident risks. In fact some may have the opposite effect.

A recent study actually found that traffic safety signs that display the number of fatalities that have occurred on that stretch of road or in the city recently could actually have a detrimental effect on motor safety. Many states now have these traffic safety signs that provide the tally of the number of fatalities recorded in the area. They are meant to catch a driver’s attention, and imprint on a motorist the need to drive safely at all times. They are meant to warn drivers about the very real risks of being involved in a serious accident. Unfortunately, these traffic signs could actually be having a detrimental effect on motorist safety. The study found that the signs caused a slight increase in the number of accidents on these roads.

The results of the recent study published in the Science journal found that when signs displayed a tally of the road traffic accident deaths to motorists, it actually resulted in a slight increase of 1.35% in the number of traffic accidents recorded on the six-mile stretch after the sign. When it came to the 5 -mile stretch after the accident death count sign, the accident rate actually increased by 1.52%. The researchers believe that the impact of these signs is equal to increasing the speed limit by as much as 5 miles an hour, or reducing the number of highway safety troopers by 6 to 14%. The researchers were also able to calculate the number of accidents related to these traffic safety signs, and say that in the state of Texas at least, the death tally sign campaign resulted in 2,600 traffic accidents and at least 16 traffic accident deaths in one year alone.

Published on: June 28, 2020

Georgia DOT Announces Winners of Traffic Safety Sign Contest

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

If you’re out driving on the roads anywhere, there is no doubt you’ve seen them – traffic signs. Traffic safety signs play a huge part in helping reduce traffic accident fatalities every year. However, for many motorists, they are usually routine, and extremely easy to ignore.

To help improve noticeability, the Georgia Department of Transportation had recently announced a contest that invited residents of Georgia to submit their ideas for traffic safety signs, and the results are out. The contest had been announced last fall, and was meant to revamp traffic signs across the state, and make them more interesting and eye-catching. Residents were asked to submit their captions for traffic signs in several categories. These categories included distracted driving, impaired driving, seat belt use, work zone safety, and general safety.

The Georgia Department of Transportation received hundreds of entries for the contest, and chose the best and wittiest one-liners in the contest. Here’s a sampling of some of the captions that made the winners’ list.

Published on: July 9, 2008

Bus Crash Caused by Faulty DOT Signage

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) met yesterday to review the March 2, 2007 bus crash at Northside Drive and I-75 that killed seven people and injured twenty-eight on-board passengers.The NTSB ruled the cause of the crash to be signage confusion and driver error.The NTSB also attributed the deaths to lack of passenger restraints in the bus.

The crash occurred when the bus driver, traveling southbound on I-75, mistook an HOV exit ramp at Northside Drive for the HOV through lane.The bus was carrying members of Ohio’s Bluffton University baseball team as well as the bus driver and his wife.The driver and his wife were killed in the accident as well as five other team members.All twenty-eight surviving passengers were injured when the bus went off the overhead concrete barrier at Northside Drive and crashed onto the interstate below.

The HOV lanes were added at the time of the summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.Ten years of traffic accidents at this site show a history of confusing signage for motorists.The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) maintains this roadway.